Illogical
by timelordroots
Summary: The war has ended and won. A sudden marriage law comes along and it brings the two most unlikely opposites together in a required marriage. It made no utter sense. Their pairing was completely illogical. Fred/Hermione. NOT ABANDONED - massive writer's block.
1. The Letter

**A/N: **Hello! This is my first crack at a fanfiction. I love Marriage Law fanfics, so I thought I'd try it out myself. I'm going to try & keep it clean. Tut tut. Please don't forget to **review,** tell me how it is, if I should keep writing or revise it. This takes place after the battle, and Hermione is finishing up her 7th year. This is my AU, and Fred is not dead, nor Snape or Dumbledore. May contain DH spoilers. Thanks!

**P.S to old readers, I changed the title from "The Unlikely Marriage" to Illogical. Thanks.**

**Disclaimer: **As much as I'd like, I do not own Harry Potter. J.K Rowling does.

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><p><strong>Illogical<strong>

**Chapter 1: The Letter**

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><p><em>Hermione's POV [Well, more like 3<em>_rd__ person POV]_

Hermione played with her fingers nervously. She was at the Great Hall with Harry, Ron, and Ginny at supper. Ron was ravenously shoveling food into his mouth, big shock. Ginny was looking down at her plate of food, with no appetite at all. Harry was watching Ron shove chicken into his mouth in disbelief. Hermione heard Ron's constant chewing and looked up from her hands. "How could you possibly eat at a time like this?" Hermione said with a tone of disbelief.

Ron looked up from his plate of food, food still in his mouth. "What 'id 'ou 'ay?" Ron replied incoherently. Hermione rolled her eyes and motioned with her hands for Ron to finish eating first. Ron quickly gulped down the food and repeated his question.

"What did you say?"

Hermione sighed and fought the urge to roll her eyes again. "How could you eat at a time like this? You do know that tonight is when the sixth and seventh years receive their letters about the Marriage Law and who they will be bound with forever, right?"

While Hermione was talking, Ron was stuffing his mouth again, and when Hermione finished, he choked at her words and soon spit it all out, all on Ginny.

"Ron, you are DISGUSTING!" Ginny yelled, as she and Harry tried to clean her robes, with were damp with regurgitated food. Soon Ginny remembered to use magic and muttered "_Scourgify!"_ at her robes.

"S-sorry, Gin..." Ron started, with his eyes wide as saucers from the news. "I-I can't believe I forgot that's tonight. I was wondering why all the sixth and sevenths looked all put out…" Ron ran his fingers through his messy, ginger hair.

"When are the letters supposed to be coming, 'Mione?" Harry asked Hermione, his face nervous, hands laced with Ginny's.

Hermione hastily looked at her Muggle watch that she always wore. "Right about… now."

As Hermione finished, a bunch of owls swooped into the Great Hall, all of them carrying identical letters in their beaks. All the letters contained an official Ministry of Magic stamp. No one opened theirs yet, Dumbledore's orders, not until all the owls cleared out and every sixth and seventh year had a letter in front of them.

Dumbledore stood up from his chair and cleared his throat, his face expressionless.

"Has everyone in their sixth and seventh years received a letter?" Dumbledore tonelessly said.

Those in the years stated nodded their heads quietly, and Dumbledore cleared his throat and fixed his half-moon shaped glasses upon the bridge of his nose. "Alright," Dumbledore said after a brief, dead silence. "You may now open your letters."

All of a sudden, there was tearing of papers everywhere. The smell of new paper wafted the air as everyone who received a letter tore theirs apart.

Hermione held the unopened envelope that contained her fate still in her hands, which read, _To Miss Hermione Granger. _Hermione wondered the possibilities. What if it was someone she knew? What if it was someone that was a complete stranger? What if it was someone she hated? Hermione gasped. What if it was _Malfoy?_

Hermione shuddered at the thought and slowly and neatly ripped open her letter in an orderly fashion. Hermione's eyes skimmed over the letter.

_Dear _Hermione Granger,

_ As you know, due to the overwhelming amount of wizards and witches lost in the Battle of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic decided to take upon a Marriage Law. Fortunately, you are eligible, as you are in the ages between 16 to 30. We are delighted to inform you that you are to wed _Fred Weasley. _Your wedding shall take place on _July 16_, which is _a month_ from now. You are to conceive a child within a year of marriage. If you are to object to the marriage, you will have your wand destroyed and you will be abolished from the magical world._

_ Best wishes,_

_ Ministry of Magic _

Hermione dropped the letter and had a face of utter shock. She looked like she was in a trance, but soon snapped out of it from hearing the screams of Ginny and everyone else.

"_Harry_!" Ginny squealed, throwing herself onto Harry. She squealed with joy, pecking Harry with kisses on the lips. Ginny stood up and took Harry's wrist, and they disappeared.

The rest of the Great Hall boomed with cries of joy or screams of utter anger.

Hermione turned her attention to Ron. Ron looked as horrified as Hermione and turned to her. "W-who did you get, 'Mione?"

Hermione did not answer. She was afraid of what Ron would think… it was terrible enough that she did not get Ron, but it would be even worse that it was Ron's own brother. Hermione hastily changed the subject and quickly asked, "Who did you get?"

Ron muttered quietly, "Luna Lovegood…"

Hermione looked at him with shock. "Wow…"

Weirdly, Ron's face when from terrified to calm. "I guess it's not _that _bad. I mean, Luna's a great girl." Ron actually had a smug look on his face once the news sunk in.

Hermione's eyes widened at Ron's expressions. She thought Ron would be devastated at the news that he did not get Hermione. Hermione's face fell. She thought that Ron actually liked her… she thought that the kiss they shared was real. Hermione fought back the unshed tears welling up in her eyes.

"Who did you get?" Ron repeated more calmly, after an awkward silence.

Hermione blinked and cleared the thoughts of her head so she wouldn't end up bawling in front of Ron, whom she thought she loved. Hermione gathered up her Gryffindor courage and quietly replied, "Fred…"

Ron's eyes were as wide as saucers. "FRED? As in, Fred, my brother?"

Hermione nodded silently, staring at her shoes.

Ron opened and closed his mouth several times, like a fish. Ron soon coughed out, "Um… that's great news." He didn't seem the least bit fazed that she got his brother… Hermione nodded.

"Well..." Ron cleared his throat. Hermione shot her head up to lock her eyes with Ron, in hopes he would have second thoughts for her. "… I guess I should find Luna." Hermione's heart plummeted and cracked into a billion pieces.

Hermione soon choked out an, "Okay" and Ron stood up from the table and disappeared in the direction of the Ravenclaws.

Hermione stood up and ran to the closest bathroom she could find. Unfortunately, she barged into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and Hermione went into a stall and started crying her eyes out.

A bunch of thoughts went through Hermione's head. How could she be stupid enough to think Ron actually liked her? She thought back, and realized they really had nothing. All they did was fight with each other. Hermione was blind all these years. How could she think that they actually had something? Hermione sobbed louder.

The most important thing was what was she going to do about Fred? They technically were classified as friends, but nothing more. Hermione never thought of a romantic relationship with Fred. She only talked to him when necessary, and only saw him at the Great Hall, in between classes, and when she was visiting the Burrow. Hermione never really considered Fred. They were from two totally different worlds. Hermione was known for being an "insufferable know-it-all", in the words of Snape. On the other hand, Fred was known for being a prankster, alongside his twin brother, George. They always wreaked havoc around Hogwarts during their years, and Hermione was always nagging them. Hermione just sobbed even more.

"What's wrong with you?" Moaning Myrtle said, sitting on the toilet, hands in lap. She seemed cheerful that someone else was miserable.

"Nothing at all, go away Myrtle." Hermione muttered, and resumed crying.

"Obviously _something_ is annoying, isn't there?" Myrtle replied happily, smiling at the misery of which was Hermione's.

Hermione's temper exploded on Myrtle. "I – SAID – GET – LOST!" Hermione yelled angrily and threw her hand across Myrtle's cheek, but it went through, because she was a ghost.

Although the pain hit Myrtle all the same, and resulted in Myrtle crying and disappearing into the toilet.

Hermione felt somewhat happy with herself, and her tears slowly faded away. Hermione smoothed her bushy brown hair, fixed her robes, and walked out of the stall with the little shred of dignity she had left.

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><p>When she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady to enter the common room, Hermione quietly said the password and the portrait flung open. Hermione hoped to walk through the common room undisturbed all the way to her dormitory, but was stopped short by Ginny, who looked joyous and boisterous.<p>

"Hey 'Mione, I've been looking for you all over!" Ginny said happily, looking clearly snogged by Harry.

Hermione tried to ignore Ginny, which resulted in Ginny dropping her smile and looked concerned. "What's the problem, 'Mione?"

Tears started to freely flow down Hermione's cheeks as she grabbed Ginny's wrist and started towards the dormitories.

Hermione shut the door behind Ginny and cast a silencing charm over the room and locked the door. After that, she started to cry loudly, plopping down on her bed, her head in her hands.

Ginny sat down on the bed next to Hermione, gently putting her hand on Hermione's shoulder reassuringly. "What's wrong, Hermione? You know you can trust me."

Suddenly, Hermione burst out telling the whole story to Ginny. "Fred, Ginny! I have to marry Fred and Ron didn't seem the least bit disappointed I'd be marrying his brother!" Hermione yelled after telling her the whole thing.

"Hermione, don't worry about my idiot git of a brother of which I call Ron." Ginny replied, pulling Hermione into a sisterly hug.

"I thought Ron liked me… I was terribly wrong. SO WRONG!" Hermione screeched, tightly hugging Ginny.

Hermione had so much stress on her shoulders. Her NEWTS were coming soon, she was dealing with her messed up relationship with Ron, and on top of that, she was marrying Fred! Not that Hermione had something against Fred, she just never considered him.

"Forget about Ron. He's always been really thick when it came to girls and feelings." Ginny reassured, patting Hermione on the back.

Hermione pulled away from Ginny and forcefully wiped her tears away with her sleeve and sighed. "I'm so sorry, Gin, that I just burst on you like that. I-I just, it's just that-"

"It's totally fine, 'Mione. You know I'm always there for you." Ginny said, smiling. "And you know, I wouldn't mind hexing Ron with my Bat-Bogey hex for you…"

Hermione gave Ginny a weak smile and hugged her. "You are the best."

Ginny pulled away and smiled. "I know."

Hermione chuckled and looked to the floor. "I-I just don't know about Fred."

Ginny paused for a moment and replied quietly, "I promise, everything will be totally fine."

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><p><em>Fred's P.O.V<em>

Fred plopped onto the couch at his and George's flat after a long day at WWW. George was closing up downstairs. Fred was utterly exhausted. The highlight of his day was cleaning up after a kid who set off a bunch of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and ran out before Fred could catch a glimpse.

While Fred was cursing under his breath, he heard an owl waiting patiently at the window, holding two identical letters in his beak. Despite Fred's comfortable position on the couch, he reluctantly stood up and opened the window, taking the letters and slipping the owl a treat before the owl set off into the night.

Fred looked at both of them on his way back to the couch, one which was addressed to him and one to George. Fred wondered what could be in the letters. He thought for a moment, and stopped dead in his tracks.

_These are the dreaded Marriage Law letters. My soon-to-be wife is sealed in this very letter. _Fred's eyes widened as he hollered for George to hurry upstairs.

A few minutes later, George appeared at the door, rubbing his cheek groggily. "What do you want, Fred? I'm tired from today."

Fred simply pointed at the letters that had official Ministry of Magic stamps on them. "Two words, brother mine, Marriage – Law.

George's eyes widened and quickly walked over to Fred, grabbing his envelope and staring at it. "_To Mister George Weasley…" _George recited.

George heaved a nervous sigh and looked at his brother. Fred gave George a weak smile and heaved a sigh.

"Ready, Gred?"

"Ready, Forge."

Both of them ripped open their letters simultaneously. Fred skimmed over his letter. _Yeah, lots died, blah blah, Marriage Law, I got that, blah bl- _Fred stopped abruptly at one sentence that would change his life forever.

_We are delighted to inform you that you are to wed _Hermione Granger.

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><p><strong>AN: **Okay, an extremely long first chapter, in my opinion, but it's what's needed. I do drone on a bit, but you know. Reviews are love. **I'm not sure if I am going to go on with it, but we'll see. This is my first fanfic, as you can see, so no hate. :-)**


	2. Confrontation

**A/N: **Hello, hello again. I've decided to continue on with the story, because of the overwhelming amount of love you've all given me. Haha. Plus, there are some minor mistakes in the other one, so don't get up in my grill for that. **By the way, the reason that this chapter came exceptionally early is because I was not busy. I have to tell you I will not be updating every other day all the time. Just want to clear that up. :-) **Plus, should I get a beta reader? So… onwards with the story!

**Disclaimer: **You know the drill.

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><p><strong>Illogical<strong>

**Chapter 2: Confrontation**

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><p><em>Fred's POV<em>

Fred's mind hit a complete blank as the thoughts inhabiting it swirled around in shock, disbelief, and _is I getting PUNK'D?_ [A/N: Even though PUNK'D wasn't even existing yet back then haha. Not that wizards would know anyways…]

Fred was still surprised to see Hermione's name on the letter, right there, in black in white. _But Hermione? _Fred thought. _How could that be? Well, don't get me wrong, I think Hermione is great, but, we're just not compatible!_ _Although I don't mind… but Hermione is the last person I'd think I'd find on that letter… is this really fate? Ugh, when did I become a chick saying "Is this fate?" I really need to lay off those Muggle movies. _Fred shook his head and turned his mind to the matter at hand and remembered having a slight crush, okay, maybe a still recurring and huge crush, on Hermione starting in his 6th year… which was Hermione's fourth. He never thought that it would actually happen…

His mind was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he did not care to notice George going about the living room, doing his happy dance.

"Fred! I got Angelina!" George bellowed exuberantly. Angelina was George's current girlfriend. "Oh yes, oh yes, happy days, my brother, happy day-"

George abruptly stopped to see Fred was standing still in utter shock. George stealthily made his way to peek over Fred's shoulder in an attempt to read his letter. George's mouth dropped when he scanned the letter to find the words: _Hermione Granger._

"Oh…" George said, startled. "Don't worry, brother dearest, at least you got someone you know…" George comforted, putting a reassuring hand on Fred's shoulder. Fred tensed and came out of his trance, blinking rapidly.

"Sorry, George… I just went in my own little world there…" Fred started quietly.

"No worries, bro. Anyways, remember when you had a crush on her? Your dreams came trueeeeeeee!" George joked, waving around his arms in the motion of a rainbow.

"Shut up." Fred snapped, the tip of his ears turning red.

"Wait a minute; are you trying to say that Fred Weasley still has the hots for Hermione Granger, after all this time?" George said with a sarcastic shock in his tone, as if he was just piecing the puzzle together to a case.

Fred's ears went from light pink to cherry red. "Just… shut up, George."

"Ooh, I knew my twin bond was tingling whenever you tried to be smooth around Hermione when we saw her!" George mused, winking. "But sucks for you, because she's still at Hogwarts. Why don't you write her an owl, yeah?"

Fred thought for a moment, and slowly nodded. "Yeah, okay."

As Fred grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, he thought of suave and witty phrases to break the ice with Hermione. He and his subconscious fought each other on some phrases.

Hey Wifey!

_Nah, sounds stupid. _

Hey Hermione, we're getting married!

_Obviously she knows that already._

Hermy, how you been?

_Are you striving to look like an idiotic buffoon?_

After wasting several pieces of parchment, Fred decided to just go and get it over with it, might as well get rid of the awkward stage and make it more awkward by making it awkward. Does that make sense?

Fred used his humorous charm and crossed his fingers it'd be alright.

_Dear Hermione,_

_ Hey, how are you? How is Hogwarts without me? Nevermind, don't answer that, it's already terrible, probably! Studying for your NEWTS, yeah? Big shock, Hermione Granger studying for her NEWTs!_

_Fred_

Fred reread it probably a thousand times before sealing it up and sending his and George's owl to Hogwarts. Every single time that he reread it, he felt so weird inside whenever he read Hermione's name. He let out a sigh while watching the owl soar into the midnight sky, soon disappearing from sight.

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><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

Hermione was in the common room late at night; studying for the upcoming NEWTs. That was Hermione's remedy, study or read when she wants to get something or someone (or a red-headed someone) off her mind. She was half asleep when she woke with a start of a sound of ruffling feathers. She soon found an owl perched on top of her propped up _An Advanced Guide to Transfiguration, _an owl which she recognized as Fred and George's.

Hermione paused for a moment, trying to predict what was stated in the letter before she actually opened it. It was obviously from Fred (no shite Sherlock), surely he read his letter by now. So many questions ran through her mind, and as she was deep in thought, she soon snapped out of it when the owl gently pecked her on the finger.

"Ouch," Hermione muttered under the breath, hastily untying the letter from the owl's leg, stroking the owl's head affectionately.

Hermione let out a deep breath and quickly ran her eyes through it. She was relieved to see that humour was still Fred's shining quality; not that there's still many wonderful traits about Fred. He's smart, charming, incredibly funny, and not to mention gorgeous… she remembered sometimes being fazed sometimes by his piercing blue eyes…

She quickly snapped out of dreamland and put her mind on the subject of the matter. Hermione was delighted that Fred had a sense of humour, once again, because after everything she's been through recently, she needed a good laugh. Mostly, Hermione was more relieved that he wasn't asking her about anything related to the wedding, or anything drastically serious for the matter, she just could not cope with it at the moment.

Hermione was also happy that he cared enough to ask how she was doing; no one really cared at the moment, except for maybe Harry or Ginny…

Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at herself, realizing she was deep in thought again, not caring to notice the owl was still patiently waiting for her to send her reply. She quickly grabbed a spare piece of parchment and her quill and scribbled down an answer.

_Fred,_

_ Thanks for asking. I'm fine. I suppose that it _is _a little less enthusiastic without you and George around here. And of course, you guessed correctly, I was studying for my NEWTs before I received your letter. Quite the charmer you are._

_Hermione_

Hermione reviewed, spell-checked, and revised her letter so many times. She didn't know why she cared so much about perfecting one simple letter. More importantly, why did her stomach bubble when she thought about Fred? Hermione shook the thoughts away and tied the letter to the owl's leg before watching it once again fly into the sky.

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><p><strong>At Platform 9 and ¾, a week or two later.<strong>

_Fred's POV_

Fred was waiting at King's Cross, at platform 9 and ¾, for the Hogwarts Express, slightly excited that he would see Hermione, but slightly nervous. He definitely got out of the awkward stage (or so he thought), and they sent owls to each other everyday, with no particular topic (sometimes to discuss the wedding, which was coming up in less than a month), just to talk to each other. Fred briefly saw Hermione at her graduation, but not really, when the rest of the Weasleys were barricading her and Harry, you can't really see. But of course, seeing each other in person would be a whole different story.

George was next to Fred, staring at Fred as if he was a lab rat, waiting for it to explode or something. Fred blinked a few times and glared at George. "What?"

The corner of George's mouth slowly turned into a smug smile. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

Fred clutched his chest, sarcastically pretending to be hurt. "What? Me, Fred Weasley, nervous about something? I would never!" Fred tried to joke, but his tone was unconvincing to George, even to himself. His voice even cracked slightly. All of a sudden, Fred decided that his shoes were really interesting.

"I'm sure you're excited to see your fiancé, so you two can snog each other senseless and shag." George joked, observing Fred's ears turning beet red.

Fred cursed under his breath, wanting to just punch his twin brother repeatedly.

George, sensing his twin bond and Fred wanting to beat him up, he glared at Fred sarcastically, looking beat up, and muttered, "Ouch."

A few silent minutes later, the Hogwarts Express pulled up to the 9 and ¾ platform, then to a halt. Seconds later, Hogwarts students came streaming out of the train, all with excited looks on their faces.

Fred scanned the crowd for any signs of Hermione, Ron, Harry, or Ginny. His eyes soon lay on a girl with bushy, brown hair, bustling her way through the crowd. Hermione noticed Fred and her eyes lit up and smiled brightly. The tip of Fred's ears was almost as fiery red as his hair. Fred smiled back at her as she tried to make her way to him.

"Hey, Fred." Hermione said quietly, giving him a small hug and smiling nervously at him.

"Is that all your fiancé gets? A "Hey, Fred" and a hug?" Fred teased, noticing Hermione's cheeks burn red. Fred heard her mutter under her breath, "Shut up…"

Ginny tapped her foot impatiently and asked, "Where's my hug, Fred?" Fred chuckled and gave his little sister a signature bone-crushing Weasley hug. "How's that?" Fred teased, rising her off her feet.

"Let me go, Fred!" Ginny complained, trying to wriggle herself free. Fred laughed and set her down, hugging everyone else.

Ron soon came bustling through the crowd, looking awkwardly at everyone. Hermione glared at him, but offered him a fake smile. Ginny was too busy snogging Harry to notice, George was fiddling with his fingers, and Fred just glared at his git of a brother. He was being pretty douchey, from what Hermione explained to him. Fred had to use all his will power not to knock Ron silly.

"Hi… Ron." Fred said slowly, relieving the silence. Ron nervously smiled, shifting his weight from one leg to another, and looked around at everyone else. Hermione was looking like she thought the ceiling was incredibly fascinating, George was now glaring at Ron, and of course, Ginny and Harry were still snogging senseless.

"Oi! Harry! Watch yourself, boy. You may be the "boy-who-lived", but if you keep it up, you may be the "boy-who-got-murdered"." George said, turning his attention from Ron to Ginny and Harry, narrowing his eyes. Harry pulled away from Ginny, his cheeks flushed red. Ginny giggled as Harry offered them a sheepish smile.

There was sort of an awkward silence, until Luna came up to Ron, and grabbed his hand, and they disappeared into the crowd without another word.

Fred grunted "prat" under his breath. Hermione giggled and gently took his hand comfortingly. Fred smiled weakly, feeling rather queasy in his stomach. Hermione and Fred soon locked eyes with each other and just stared at each other, Hermione gripping tighter. Fred soon felt so weak at the spark that went through his body when she gripped tightly.

"Are we going to The Burrow anytime soon?" Ginny grunted impatiently, watching their stare-down.

They both blinked and turned to see that Harry, George, and Ginny were staring at them like they were a movie. Of course, with Dad's obsession with Muggle things, they knew what a movie was. George pretended he had popcorn and started munching on his imaginary popcorn.

Both of them proceeded to blush and noticed that they were still holding hands. They both quickly let go, and both looked around at everything but each other.

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><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

On their way home using the Knight Bus (which was certainly _not_ an enjoyable ride), Fred and Hermione remained silent and stayed deep in their own thoughts. Due to the overwhelming amount of wizards and witches trying to get home, they had to split up. Harry went with Ginny, George squeezed in between some rather burly strangers (strange guy, he is), and Hermione and Fred in a little corner. Ron decided to go with Luna's family.

Hermione's mind was swelled with questions. Why was it so easy talking to Fred in letter-form, but physically, she was so shy with Fred around. Her mind kept going back to when they awkwardly stared at each other. Hermione just got lost in his piercing ocean-blue eyes, and suddenly felt weak at the knees, and feeling they would give out, she gripped his hand tightly. Hermione felt a million butterflies fluttering freely through her stomach at that time. Since the moment, they didn't talk to each other, nor even look at each other in the eyes.

She was somewhat compressed so tightly in the small space that Fred and Hermione took up, that her body was practically pressed against his. Hermione stared at his chest for a while, which was probably defined and muscular from all those years of Quidditch. Apparently, she made it quite obvious because Fred soon followed her gaze and locked eyes with her. Hermione's cheeks flushed a bright red and looked away for the remainder of the trip.

When the Knight Bus stopped at The Burrow, Hermione fought her way through all the witches and wizards. As soon as Stan kicked all of them out, the bus doors quickly slammed shut and popped away.

Hermione was brushing off her clothes and muttered, "That was quite a trip."

But little did Hermione know that the Knight Bus was only the beginning of a long, long day.

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><p><strong>AN: **Okay, so it wasn't much action-packed with fluff or whatever, but we need to get rid of the awkward moments, yeah? I promise, I'll try to make the third chapter at the Burrow a lot more interesting. Please tell me if there is anything OOC or just grammatically incorrect. I read it over a billion times and I'm pretty sure it's fine. Thanks for all the reviews and stuff. Reviews are **love.** Cheers!


	3. Eventful at the Burrow

**A/N: **Hola again. I'm back with Chapter 3. Thank you all so much for the support! If you have any questions, shoot me a review. I don't really like the idea of beta readers so yeah. I'm rambling crap. ON WITH THE STORY!

**UPDATE: I added a little Luna conversation during the dinner with Hermione, so look at that. Thanks to lioness94 for the suggestion.**

**This chapter contains fluff. :-)**

**Disclaimer: **You think you would know by now.

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><p><strong>Illogical<strong>

**Chapter 3: Eventful at the Burrow**

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><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

To avoid anything else weird prior to the last few hours' events, Hermione quickly trudged upstairs and unpacked all of her things, and plopped herself onto one of the two beds in Ginny's room. Since she finally finished Hogwarts, she had a lot on her mind. The wedding, the NEWTs results, the finding her parents in Australia when they have not the faintest idea or clue who she is (Hermione heaved a great big sigh at this, and figured that maybe she could leave her parents be, rather than to risk the chance to mess up their minds entirely), and… the Fred. Why does her life have to be so complicated? Then again, when was it _not?_

While Hermione was drenched in complications of which was her life, Ginny slammed the door open, which startled Hermione, making her shooting her head up. Ginny was all over Harry, snogging. They were giggling when Hermione loudly cleared her throat, crossing her arms. She really _did not_ have to see her best friend and best girl friend getting it on, especially in her state.

Quickly, Ginny and Harry split apart. Harry was flushed scarlet and Ginny was glaring at Hermione.

"Am I interrupting something?" Hermione joked, the corners of her mouth tugging up. _Oh great,_ Hermione thought silently. _I'm turning into Fred._

Ginny kept glaring at her, her mouth twitching into a sarcastic smile and tapped her foot impatiently with an _I-would-get-out-or-feel-my-hex-wrath_ expression on her face. "No, 'Mione, we're about to make tea." She retorted.

Hermione put up her hands in defeat and muttered, "Fine, fine" as she scampered out of the room. Once she was out, the door quickly slammed and a silencing and locking charm was placed on the door by Ginny. Hermione rolled her eyes and gagged a little to herself.

"Going to throw up, are you? What's going on in there?"

Hermione quickly stopped gagging and turned around to see Fred, levitating Ginny's trunk upstairs with his wand, eyes narrowed. She started to blush, and made sure her bushy brown hair was covering her cheeks.

"Something you probably don't want to encounter." Hermione croaked after an awkward silence (which seemed to be happening a lot lately), shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

Fred was left to figure out the puzzle and soon his eyes were wide with shock. "Harry's a dead man." Fred simply growled, but in a joking manner.

Hermione giggled and couldn't help but stare at Fred. Hermione felt like her feet were glued to the surface, for some reason, she just could not move or move her gaze from him.

Hermione could not help but notice that how gorgeous he was. How did she not see him back then that way? Maybe because she'd be marrying the man in less than a month. She remembered always nagging him and George for testing their WWW products on first-years, but quietly admired their confidence and courage when they taught Umbridge a lesson in their 7th year. Hermione has in-secret been crushing on Fred since her 3rd year, but figured it would never happen and focused her energy on Ron. Oh, how incredibly wrong she was. Hermione mentally rolled her eyes at her stupidity for liking thick Ron.

Hermione was too deep in thought to notice Fred carefully placed Ginny's trunk by her door. Hermione snapped back to reality when she heard the loud _THUMP_ of the trunk on the creaky, wooden floor of the Burrow, shortly after Fred teased, "Thinking hard about me?" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively. Hermione looked away and uncontrollably blushed furiously.

"I should be getting back to the shop with George, you know. I'll be back for the family dinner, don't you worry." Fred said, winking at Hermione.

Hermione let out a squeaky laugh, and then coughed out an, "Okay." Fred made his way to her and gently brushed his lips on her cheek, winking, and Apparating to the shop before Hermione could say another word. Inside, Hermione was going bonkers, and actually enjoyed the kiss. Hermione did not move, still fazed, and soon found her cheeks burning.

* * *

><p><em>Fred's POV<em>

Fred Apparated to his and flopped onto the couch and lounged there for a few moments, thinking over his recent actions.

What compelled Fred to just waltz over to her and kiss her on the cheek? Hermione _is _his soon-to-be wife… but still, things are tense between them. Why did he do it? Maybe because it was incredibly awkward, or he just could not resist. In the heat of the moment, Fred was thinking along the lines of, "_Damn the consequences." _Fred groaned at his stupidity and slapped himself on the face, so hard that he's sure George could feel it through their twin bond. Sure enough, he heard a loud "OW!" downstairs in the shop. Fred chuckled.

Moments later, Fred found George pop his head through the door to the flat, rubbing his physically unharmed cheek but internally hurting mind and bellowed, "Bloody hell, are you trying to _kill_ yourself? And are you going to help me with the shop or what?"

Fred chuckled again and darted up from the couch. "I'm coming, I'm coming…"

* * *

><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

While waiting for Ginny to unlock the bedroom door, Hermione had just been sitting by the fire, feeling rather comfy in the big armchair. Once Ginny and Harry have "done their business" (A/N: Sounds wrong LOL), Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon with a good Muggle novel book, lying on her stomach on the bed.

* * *

><p>Engrossed and absorbed in her book, she soon found herself startled to hear Mrs. Weasley's (or Molly, since she wanted Hermione to call her that) voice bellow, "Hermione, dear, dinner is ready!" Hermione gasped and tumbled off the bed and onto the floor, making a loud crashing noise, shrilly screaming. Hermione quickly stood up, trying to regain her balance and slapping her forehead muttering, "Idiot! Idiot!"<p>

Apparently Hermione made a scene, because soon Fred burst into the door with his wand at the ready, yelling, "WHAT'S WRONG?"

Hermione was surprised to see him and stared at him with wide, chocolate brown eyes. After Fred realized that nothing happened, he slowly lowered his wand, while pursing his lips into a straight line.

"Sorry about that, I just fell off the bed…" Hermione murmured, embarrassed.

"Oh… right." Fred mumbled, and looked at his shoes with interest, rubbing his neck feverishly.

"We should get downstairs, shouldn't we?" Hermione said, looking up at him.

Fred's head darted up to lock eyes with her but then retreated quickly and looked away, nodding his head in agreement.

* * *

><p><em>Fred's POV<em>

_Why am I so stupid?_ Fred thought to himself as he and Hermione walked down the stairs together. _Thinking something bad happened to her. _Hermione gave Fred a real shock when she fell. Fred felt his breath get caught in his throat when he heard her scream, a sound he did not want to hear.

"Hermione, Fred, dears, where have you been?" Mum asked. Everyone was there (with the exception of Percy, who was working overtime at the Ministry of Magic): Mum, Dad, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, George, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and even Luna. Fred saw Hermione pale and tense visibly at the sight of Ron and Luna, holding hands.

Seeing Hermione not planning on answering, Fred quickly answered, "Oh, nothing, Mum." Fred took a seat before his mother could say another word, Hermione sitting down next to him, not saying anything, but grabbing his hand under the table and squeezing it.

* * *

><p>The dinner went pretty smoothly and same as always. Everyone was boisterous and ecstatic to see everyone together again, like a big, happy family should react. There were scattered conversations all over the place, but also big group conversations. Fred noticed Hermione didn't care to join in or add on any of them. Also, Fred noticed that Ron's appetite never failed to amuse him.<p>

It's just the end that got a little out of hand.

When Mum and Fleur were clearing the dinner table, everyone had scattered conversations with each other. All of the boys talked about Quidditch, Ginny was trying to engage Hermione in a conversation (who still was not talking), and Luna just gazed around wearily and curiously in her normal dreamy state, glancing at Hermione, who looked like she was just stupefied. Fred turned his attention to eavesdrop as Luna spoke to Hermione.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" Luna gently interrogated.

Hermione blinked at Luna, and Ginny stared at Luna in amazement for getting Hermione to snap out of it.

"Just fine, Luna, just fine." Hermione quietly replied, plastering a fake, big smile on her face. Luna wasn't having any of it. She paused for a moment, and seemed to piece the puzzle together.

"I know what's bothering you, Hermione. I just want to say that-" Luna tried to start.

All of a sudden, when things were going just peachy fine, Ron stood up, waiting for everyone to settle down. A few seconds later, everyone soon fell silent, faces etched with confusion.

Ron looked around at all of them before saying, "I would like to say something." _No shite, _Fred thought. George, who was next to Fred and sensed Fred's thoughts through their twin bond, the corner of his lips twitching and tugging up into a smile at Fred, fought to keep himself content and chuckled quietly, nudging Fred's arm.

"Luna, honestly, even though we are bound together, I want to say I love you." Hermione's hand gripped Fred's hand fiercely at the words. "And…" Ron went down on one knee in front of Luna and pulled out a small box. "I wanted to formally say, and even though you sort of have to, will you marry me?" Luna's dreamy eyes widened in shock, glancing at Hermione, who was having tears well up in her eyes, but nodded her head saying, _It's okay._ Luna looked back to Ron, quietly nodding, and just hugged him tightly.

Hermione cringed, and proceeded to let go of Fred's hand, standing up from the table and going outside in silence. Ginny pushed her seat back and stood up to go follow her, but Fred put a hand up to her and said, "I got this." Fred cleared his throat, quietly said his congratulations and stood up to follow Hermione, ignoring George's thumbs-up with a sly smile.

* * *

><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

Hermione couldn't contain her feelings anymore and ran outside before anyone could see her cry. She soon decided to sit down in front of the small pond, legs criss-cross leaning against an ancient, crooked tree and watched the Koi fish swim freely through the water, while she cried to herself.

A minute later, Hermione faintly heard someone calling her name, unmistakably Fred, and she instantaneously stopped crying, and in the hopes Fred wouldn't acknowledge her presence and location.

Unfortunately, Hermione could not stifle her sniffles and she heard twigs crackle under someone's weight behind her and Hermione let out a sigh of frustration and mentally nagged herself for doing a horrid job at a failed attempt to go undercover. Hermione briskly and forcefully pushed the tears off her cheeks and acted like nothing was wrong, when of course there was. Fred plopped down beside her and didn't say anything.

For a few dead moments, they both silently watched the calm pond waters ripple and the wind blew softly against their skins, the bright moon shining down almost directly on the pair. It really was a lovely and romantic night. Softly in the background was sounds of frogs quietly croaking and numerous fireflies soon ignited the air, their lights twinkling and blinking furiously in the early night. Hermione always loved fireflies.

Hermione saw in the corner of her eye Fred stealing glances at her, probably struggling to find his voice. After a while, Fred quietly put a hand on her knee and whispered, "It's all going to be fine."

Hermione couldn't control herself, and thrust herself onto Fred, sobbing loudly into his chest. His shirt was soon sagging wet, but Hermione noticed by his actions he didn't seem to care, just gently caressing her arms. Hermione shivered at his touch.

Hermione was crying on the outside, but was so embarrassed on the inside. Why couldn't she stop herself? She definitely could verify that she did _not _love Ron anymore. She was incredibly happy for Luna, though. She actually felt the need to _kill _Ronald. She was just in post-break up syndrome, even though they never really were together. She still wondered why she was crying, but decided that she was crying about everything else. Heck, Fred must be thinking she's still crying about Ron, and that she had the nerve to cry about another boy right in front of her fiancé!

She heard Fred whispering in her ear soothing words like, "It's okay, let it all out, it's fine, it's gonna be alright."

Hermione sort of stiffened in confusion, because she never saw Fred this gentle. It was almost out of character for known prankster to be carefree and loud. She expected to find herself having purple polka-dots all over her face by now by some odd reason. Hermione regained her senses and looked up at him, brushing the tears off her face, still clutching him tightly, smiling at Fred and whispered, "Thanks."

Fred offered her a tiny smile back and replied, "Anytime, 'Mione."

The most unlikely couple quietly embraced each other for a few minutes. Hermione felt incredibly safe in his protective and strong arms. Their eyes drifted upon the pond, and after a comfortable silence, Fred quietly asked in her ear, "Do you still love him?" Fred muttered, tensing. A shudder was set down her spine when he gently whispered in her ear. She heard in his tone he reluctantly asked, and Hermione's heart lurched thinking that Fred thought Hermione favoured Ron over him. After the heartless reminiscing on Ron, it was almost _laughable_ to say Hermione still loved him. When Hermione tried to make contact with his eyes, he ignored her attempts, and kept staring straight ahead. The tips of his ears were growing red.

Hermione quickly whispered, "No. I don't, Fred." Fred's body considerably calmed, but did not reply. She grasped him tighter and rested her head on his chest. "Not at all."

Fred once again broke the silence and changed the topic, asking, "Do you um…" He paused for a moment. "Want to go out sometime?" He coughed out reluctantly, smiling humourously.

Hermione smiled and gently brushed her lips against his. "I'd definitely like that."

Hermione snuggled into his protective arms and sighed. She was amazed that he didn't try and prank her… What else could possibly go wrong?

An hour later…

"_FREDERICK WEASLEY!_"

Oops, spoke too soon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Ahhhhh!** So much** **fluff, I can't take it!** LOL, I felt pretty awkward writing it but it must be done! This started out as a fairly short chapter, but I attempted to add more details into it. I'll try to cram in a lot for the next chapter, regarding the wedding, the first date, yadda yadda. Maybe they should just elope and get it over with… LOL. Please give me your feedback, reviews are **love, **dearies! :-)


	4. Fancies Me?

**A/N: **Hey again. Nothing much to say but this may be (probably will be when I'm done with it) a long chapter, I'm trying to squeeze in a lot. Do tell if it feels sort of rushed, I hate when it is. Thanks!

**Disclaimer:** I _wish_ I could own Harry Potter. But no, you numpties, I do not.

* * *

><p><strong>Illogical<strong>

**Chapter 4: Fancies **_**Me?**_

* * *

><p><em>Fred's POV<em>

CRACK

"_FREDERICK WEASLEY!_"

"Oh fuck!" George yelled, who accidentally spilled a bottle of unneeded silverweed into his cauldron of love potions. "_Language, George Weasley!_" Fred heard Hermione yell hotly as her voice crept near them.

Fred and George were shocked to hear Hermione Apparate to WWW and slam the door to the backroom open. In complete surprise and inability to contain himself, Fred fell off his chair. George took one look at Hermione and started uncontrollably laughing. Fred chuckled to himself after he regained his senses as he slowly pulled himself up into his chair, swiveled it around to face Hermione, and rest his chin on his hand, pretending to look completely concerned. His eyes bulged to see that Hermione was only wearing a towel wrapped around her. He quickly looked down to the floor.

"Can you explain _this?_" Hermione hissed tempestuously, pointing to her hair, which was now sporting neon green with pink stripes, and still apparently wet from her shower. George could _not _stop laughing.

Fred looked up and looked as innocent as a prankster could, shrugged and slyly replied, "I have _no _idea, love." This remark only made George laugh even heartier, clutching his sides and patting Fred satisfyingly on the back.

Hermione let out an icy "_UGH!_" and walked across the room, and stopped right in front of Fred, giving him her best Mrs. Weasley glare.

"Bloody fix it… _now_, Fred Weasley." Hermione annunciated angrily.

"Did Hermione Granger just curse?" Fred joked, but by the looks of Hermione, she didn't think it was quite funny. If looks could kill, Fred and George would probably be bloodied up and dead.

Fred decided he got his laugh, and before Hermione could hex him into oblivion he quickly murmured a counter-spell and her hair became bushy brown again. During the process, Fred tried his very hardest to stifle a snigger. George apparently had no willpower to hold it in.

As soon as her hair was brown again, she gave a satisfied "Hmmph", and then proceeded to glare at both of them. She was then probably wondering why he was looking at her weirdly. Hermione looked down and realized she was only wearing a towel and shrieked, Apparating quickly out.

Fred sniggered and said before she left, "See you tomorrow night, love!"

* * *

><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

Hermione was cursing under her breath (which she really doesn't do all the time) as she cast a drying charm over herself, and quickly dressed. She was _really_ embarrassed by that, but also annoyed by herself, not caring to get properly dressed before Apparating to WWW. She slapped the palm of her hand to her forehead in disgust of herself.

She looked around Ginny's room to make sure she was alone. Hermione soon remembered that Ginny and Harry were out tonight, so she had the room all night to herself. She flopped onto her bed, and was deep in thought, thinking she forgot about something. Something that was close… today was July 1… something… something she's forgetting.

Hermione's eyes bulged out and gasped. _The wedding! _The wedding is in _11 days!_ She hadn't planned a single thing, not even what she was going to wear! Although she and Fred briefly discussed it in between letters, they never really got around to the basic details.

Hermione grabbed her pillow and screamed into it. She needed to plan a wedding in less than 11 days! She scampered off the bed and went to find Mrs. Weasley.

"Err… Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione said quietly, finding Mrs. Weasley in the kitchen, apparently getting a head start on breakfast tomorrow.

Mrs. Weasley turned around from her pan of bacon and smiled at Hermione. "Hermione, dear, please call me Molly."

Hermione shifted her weight from one leg to another and returned the smile weakly. "Well," she started, clearing her throat.

"Yes, please do tell, dear."

"I-havent-planned-the-wedding-at-all-yet!" Hermione said in one huff of breath.

Molly's eyes became wide. "Oh, dear, don't worry about that! I'll take care of all of that for you, do not worry!" She said, smiling.

"R-really?" Hermione stammered. "I really wouldn't want to let you do all of that."

"Oh dear, it's no problem. I love to plan weddings. Although, I'll need your input for the dresses and decorations, of course, it's your wedding. Do you think having the wedding here at the Burrow would be sufficient? Maybe even at the garden outside!" Molly gave herself a satisfying smile with her sudden idea.

Hermione thought it over, and nodded. "That sounds like a great idea… Molly!"

Molly squealed and gave Hermione a great bear hug, and pulled her to sit down with her at the kitchen table. "We must discuss! Here… I was thinking along these lines…"

After talking into the whole night, Hermione had it all planned out with Molly (bless her enthusiastic heart). Also accompanied by Ginny for an hour or so when she got home, but after that Ginny retreated to her room groggily.

It would be a quite minuscule ceremony (no matter how much Molly disagreed and protested against it), with only essential family members and friends. They would have it at the garden at the Burrow, so Hermione would easily be able to get ready at the Burrow. Hermione would have Ginny to be her maid of honour (which Ginny gladly accepted), and Hermione figured George would be Fred's best man. Hermione would have Harry give her away down the aisle. Molly decided that she would take her and Ginny shopping for dress robes tomorrow, and she'd do so with Fred and George another d ay. Everything seemed perfectly arranged…

Still, Hermione felt funny about the whole thing. She barely knew Fred and the next thing she knew, she was going to get _married _to him! It wasn't like she disliked Fred, because she definitely did not. It just felt like the whole thing's rushed (maybe because it _was!_). They didn't even go out on a date yet! She didn't even have a ring yet. They barely got out of the awkward friend zone and she only knew a little about him through the letters they sent back and forth to each other. It really felt funny…

* * *

><p>After a good night's worth of talking, and it was around 3 in the morning, Hermione swiftly fled to Ginny's room, and collapsed onto her bed, not bothering to even change into her nightgown. She couldn't find herself asleep, no matter how sleepy she told herself she was, and partly because of Ginny's loud snores were bouncing off the walls throughout the whole room. Hermione moaned in frustration and thrust her pillow straight at Ginny's face. Ginny's face scrunched up in disgust but then the expression disappeared, her calm face reappearing. Hermione rolled her eyes at Ginny's deep sleep and made an effort to sleep.<p>

Hermione took the time she was awake to consider everything out. She was having her first date with Fred tomorrow night. A few hours before when they were snuggled by the lake, Fred didn't tell her a single detail about the date, no matter how hard she pushed; he just simply kept plainly replying, "It's a surprise". To be perfectly honest and truthful, Hermione absolutely hated surprises. She opposed surprises because she hated not being in on it, or planning it thoroughly before it actually happened, to guarantee it'd run smoothly. Hermione hoped it wouldn't start with some prank of his, or she'd reduce to killing her fiancé and being thrown into Azkaban. Actually, it sounded like a plan. _That _would definitely be a surprise to Fred. Is she going insane? Sigh.

Hermione gave herself a satisfied smirk before slowly closing her eyes.

* * *

><p><em>Fred's POV<em>

All morning at the shop, Fred's mind kept wandering to tonight's date with Hermione. He played back every single detail in his mind about the date, making sure everything was in order and in place. _Perfect, _Fred thought to himself. _Hermione's rubbing off on me._

Sometimes, he was so wrapped up in his thoughts he knocked over displays, ignored customers, and sometimes even accidentally spilled potions and products. Fred was red in the face the whole morning at his clumsiness. All this klutz caused by one particular bushy brunette.

George seemed to observe Fred's anxieties through their twin bond, but unable to comprehend what the source of the uneasiness was, and hatched an ingenious yet so simple plan to corner Fred in the backroom and interrogate him.

"Freddie, my brother, would you mind getting more Puking Pastilles in the backroom? We need to restock." George asked gingerly, flashing a smile.

Fred gave George a look of confusion, glancing at the Puking Pastilles display, which was completely full. Eying the display, Fred narrowly said, "Err, but they're completely-"

"Just go in the backroom and get some more, would you?" George cut off impatiently, with an annoyed look on his face that said, _just do it._

Fred glared at him and shrugged, retreating to the backroom, leaving the door open behind him. As he made his way to the Puking Pastille boxes, he heard the door shut behind him, and a locking charm murmured on the door.

He briskly spun around to see George, who had a serious look on his face that Fred didn't generally see on his twin brother's usually enthusiastic and mischievous face nor features.

"George?" Fred said quickly. "What's going on? Who's watching the register?"

"Verity." George replied flatly, who was eerily inching closer to Fred, serious look still plastered on his face. As George got closer, Fred backed away, and he soon hit a dead-end corner. "George…"

George soon stopped right in front of Fred, putting his hands on either side of Fred's head, boxing him in. "What's going on?"

Fred's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"You're nervous about something. What is it?" George simply asked tonelessly.

"N-n-nothing…" Fred lied, sputtering. He didn't sound too convincing to George or even himself.

"LIES!" George yelled, making Fred jump. "I feel it through our twin bond. You're nervous about something." George took his hands off the wall and crossed his arms against his chest.

"You know you can tell me anything, Freddie." George calmly assured, eyebrow raised.

There was an eerie silence for a few dead seconds. George was staring down Fred and Fred was thinking of excuses to tell George, but he figured that George would see right through him. Without really thinking, he just involuntarily blurted it out.

"I'm just worried about the date with Hermione tonight, alright?" Fred blurted out, his ears flushed red. He looked all around the room except for his twin brother.

George paused for a moment, who was probably expecting something life-threatening or a secret that Fred was keeping from him, and started laughing. "That's it?"

Fred silently nodded, glaring at George. George just kept laughing his head off.

"You're worried about a _date? _Since when were _you_ worried about a _date_?" George asked him, his eyes full of tears of laughter. "C'mon, Fred, get a grip, everyone knows that she fancies you."

Fred's eyes widened in surprise as if someone just told him that he won a million Galleons. "What?"

George looked at him as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "I didn't know you were so pathetically dim-witted, brother mine. And people say you are the smarter twin! Ha, my arse! But of course, being the better looking twin is far more important." He winked at Fred, who was oblivious to what George was saying, because he was deep in thought.

Fred shook his head as if it was a dream. "Since when?"

"Since like her 3rd or 4th year! You don't notice how she's looked at you? When she was in the common room with Ron and Harry, stealing glances at you? How it looked like she sometimes _enjoyed_ catching us pranking the 1st years?" George exclaimed matter-of-factly, rolling his eyes at Fred's blindness.

Fred thought it over for a minute, reminiscing back to his years at Hogwarts.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback, OoooOooooOo!<em>

"_FRED! GEORGE!"  
><em>

_Fred spun around alongside his brother to see a clearly agitated but amused Hermione, prefect badge glinting, making her way to them, her fists tightened. Fred's eyes uncontrollably twinkled when Hermione came into view. Fred made sure not to make eye contact with her._

_Fred and George were in the process of testing out their new WWW products on the first years. Before Hermione could get a hold of them, they already knocked out one 1__st__ year and the rest of them were retching on the floor._

"_What do you think you're doing?" Hermione shrieked, trying to keep a straight face but visibly she looked pretty amused. Her mouth showed tell-tale signs she was attempting to force down a smile._

"_Oh, I don't know, Granger," Fred started slyly, "We just came by-"_

"_-and saw these first years-" George went on._

"_-just leisurely eating some candy-"_

"_-and all of a sudden-"_

"_-they just started to act all funny."_

"_Quite the coincidence,-"_

"_-right?" Fred finished, both of them with wide, identical smiles on their faces._

_Hermione couldn't help but crack a smile. As they were talking, apparently the candy wore off and all the 1__st__ years looked right as rain. They had horrified looks on their faces and quickly scampered to the dormitories._

_Hermione stepped up to Fred and George and whispered in Fred's ear, "I'll let this one slide." She gave them both a playful glare, eyebrows raised, swiping her wand once while saying, "_Scourgify!"_ to clean up the vomit, and disappeared to the girls' dormitories._

_For some reason, Fred's stomach bubbled when she whispered in his ear. Shrugging off the odd sensation of feelings, he and George retreated to their dormitory to work on more products._

_Back to reality, OoooOooooOo!_

* * *

><p>Fred lamely shrugged. "So? That was back at Hogwarts, mind you. It's not like she <em>still<em> likes me." Fred reasoned.

George smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe so, Fred, but it doesn't take two thick Slytherins to figure out that you _fancy _her_."_

Fred sputtered incoherently but then seeing that George wouldn't take his denial, muttered a, "Yes" in defeat. Fred refused to talk anymore on the subject.

"If you don't mind, we both best be getting back to the shop; Verity's probably getting murdered by customers right now." Fred said nonchalantly and slipped past George before he could say anything more.

* * *

><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

All day, Hermione's mind couldn't help but wonder what would be in store for the date tonight with Fred. She was frantically wondering what to wear, how to act; it was all so out of character for the usually intelligent bookworm to worry about girlish matters. Ginny seemed to intake Hermione's new behaviour and confronted her for them.

An few hours before Fred was scheduled to Apparate to the Burrow, Hermione was too busy levitating different outfits possible to wear and muttered to herself why it would or would not work to notice that Ginny was watching her casually, sitting on her bed. Ginny cleared her throat loudly and interrupted Hermione's train of thought, her muttering coming to an instantaneous stop. She whipped her head to follow the sound so quickly she almost got whiplash. Hermione's eyes widened to see Ginny and flushed red in the cheeks to realize she probably heard her talking to herself. A really nasty habit of hers, it is.

"Oh, hey Gin." Hermione squeaked, whipping her wand and muttered a spell to neatly organize all the outfits back orderly into her closet. She took a seat opposite of Ginny on her bed, playing with her fingers nervously when Ginny said nothing in response.

"You fancy Fred."

"What?" Hermione shrieked, her face rapidly turning a violent shade of red that could compete with the Gryffindor colours.

"Fred, you fancy him." Ginny repeated calmly.

"N-no I do-" Hermione started.

"Face it, 'Mione. You _do_ like him. And goody for you, he fancies you, too."

At this, Hermione started sputtering words in protest, but soon fell silent when she knew it was no use with the ambitious Ginny. Hermione nodded and hung her head. She noticed a satisfied look on Ginny's face. Hermione sighed at Ginny's ways to manipulate and worm out information from people. It was almost incredible. She would be a great lawyer. If only they knew what those were.

"How do you know Fred likes _me, _though?" Hermione inquired.

Ginny scoffed in amazement. "I can't believe how oblivious you are to fail to see that Fred's liked you since his 6th year!" Hermione's head shot up in surprise.

"Have you not noticed the twinkle in his eyes," Ginny continued, "whenever you came his and George's way to chew them out for pranking the 1st years?" She vaguely remembered something different in Fred's eyes when she was in direct conversation with them. Before Hermione could lamely protest, Ginny cut her off saying, "What about that time when you went around the common room preaching about spew or something-"

"It's S.P.E.W!" She objected. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, S.P.E.W, and when you came over to them, Fred was just ogling at you while you spoke?" Hermione did recall that memory.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback, OoooOooooOo!<em>

_Hermione had just finished telling Seamus and Dean about S.P.E.W, both who could care less, and was just enraged at how people were so _oblivious_ to how hard house elves work, but receive no pay or recognition at all! Hermione was internally screaming in her head while she scanned the room to see anyone she hadn't spoke to yet. Her eyes stopped on two redheads, Fred and George, who were whispering in the corner, while Fred was scribbling something down on a piece of parchment._

_Hermione made a beeline for them, and when George noticed Hermione coming, he quickly nudged Fred and Fred stuffed the parchment in his pocket._

"_What is it, Granger?" George said, rather impatiently._

_She huffed a scoff and began her well thought out speech. "Do you know that house-elves are being enslaved to work about Hogwarts, making our meals, tidying our hallways?" Hermione did not wait for an answer and continued._

"_The crucial aspect of what is inhumane is that house elves are not treated correctly! They do not receive pay, which is only the fair thing to do, and they are not offered holidays! It is just wrong to…"_

_As Hermione went on, she was observing the two, seeing if they were even listening to her. George was pretending to be asleep, mouth open and snoring loudly, while quite on the contrary, Fred was looking rather fascinated at her. She abruptly stopped her little speech, to notice that Fred was not listening, but gawking at her. There was a weird twinkle in his eye. He was even drooling a little. Hermione caught his attention by snapping her fingers loudly, as well as George's, because they both had their backs erect, blinking._

"_Yeah, yeah, good for you, Granger, but we have better things to do then join whatever spew is." George answered for the both of them, seeing that the tips of Fred's ears were growing a vicious crimson red._

"_It's S.P.E.W! The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare!" Hermione snapped._

"_Whatever!" George shot back, and made a motion with his hands to shoo off._

_Hermione rolled her eyes, looking at both of them, George looking angry and Fred looking embarrassed, before storming away._

_Back to reality, OoooOooooOo!_

* * *

><p>"I-I suppose… but that was only <em>one <em>scenario! You would think after four years, he would've gotten over it, right?" Hermione challenged.

Ginny rolled her eyes at Hermione again. "Maybe, but it's a shame to see you were blissfully unaware of all this, when you are supposed to be the brightest witch of our generation." She raised her eyebrows, causing Hermione to roll her eyes and chuck her pillow playfully at Ginny.

Ginny laughed it off and said, "We better get _you _ready for your date!"

* * *

><p>After an hour of Ginny primping her and Hermione allowing herself to be Ginny's dress-up doll, Ginny finally did the finishing touches on her makeup (which she usually does not wear) and did jazz hands, while saying, "Voila!" Hermione opened her eyes, which were clamped shut the whole time, and looked in the mirror. She was shocked to look almost… pretty!<p>

Hermione had decided on a not-too-revealing ruffle blouse, which was a radiant shade of lavender purple, which was neatly tucked in her pitch-black pencil skirt that stopped above her knees. To match, she was wearing black flats that had a flowery design outlined in silvery white. Her usually untamed bushy hair was somewhat made into a complicated braided updo, courtesy of Ginny. Her makeup looked pretty natural, except for fairly dark mascara, also courtesy of Ginny. Hermione actually felt attractive, the only other time was when she was all fancied up for the Yule Ball. The past few years, she was a little preoccupied with Ron and Harry to care for appearances.

"You look amazing!" Ginny squealed, pulling her into a gingerly hug. Molly came up to see what the racket was about, popped her head through the door, and took one look at her and said, "Hermione, you look absolutely stunning!" Hermione blushed at this.

"Thank you, Molly." She said quietly, hiding her cheeks.

"I believe Fred should be here in a few minutes." Molly went on, smiling wide at Hermione, and then proceeding to close the door.

Hermione felt like hyperventilating. She didn't know whether she overdid the look, but otherwise _felt_ stunning. But honestly, inside, she was feeling like a billion butterflies were floating around in her stomach freely. She took deep breaths, _in and out, in and out, in and out…_

Apparently Ginny was watching her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It'll all be fine. I'm sure the whole night Fred will be ogling at you." Hermione giggled at this.

CRACK.

It sounded like Fred just Apparated to the Burrow. Hermione exhaled a yoga fire breath and stood up, smoothing her skirt and taking one more look at herself in the mirror.

"Hermione, dear, Fred's here!" Molly yelled from downstairs.

Hermione mustered up all her Gryffindor courage and gave Ginny a _thank-you _look, while Ginny returned the favour by giving her a _good-luck_ look. She exhaled deeply and opened the door and started down the stairs.

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><p><em>Fred's POV<em>

Fred wasn't sure whether he looked presentable or not. He decided to just go with a casual red, plaid shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, along with some ruddy and muddy jeans. Plus, he was wearing dirty red Converse shoes (apparently a Muggle brand, Hermione had given all of them a pair one year) to tie it all together. He just hoped he didn't look ridiculously underdressed compared to Hermione. He was practically right.

As soon as Hermione stepped onto the stairs, Fred's eyes widened with shock.

She looked absolutely stunning in her little getup. Fred even noticed she was wearing quite a bit of makeup! Fred felt undeserving of her. He gulped as she got closer to him, locking eyes with his and noticed that his ears and her cheeks were a violent shade of red, both of which could resemble to Gryffindor red.

"Now, you two lovebirds," Molly said, a bit of amusement in her voice, "You better get going before it gets dark out. You all take care, now!"

"Okay, Mum." Fred replied, his eyes never leaving Hermione's. He took Hermione's hand and they Apparated out.

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><p><strong>AN: **A bit of a cliffy, no? All will be revealed in the date chapter! :-)


	5. Sparks Fly

**A/N: **Hi again. This chapter will be covering just the date. The wedding will be in one of the next few chapters. Thanks for all the reviews, guys.

**Disclaimer:** This is getting a little old. We all know that Rowling owns Harry Potter. How many for chapters will it take to get that through to your head?

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><p><strong>Illogical<strong>

**Chapter 5: Sparks Fly**

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><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

CRACK

Hermione has never really fancied Apparating to and from places. Actually, in her perspective, she rather _detested_ the method of transporting, even though it was the quickest and most efficient. You would think you would get used to Apparating after a few years, but every time felt like the first to Hermione. The funny feeling of being pulled into a rather narrow and slender tube, then being pulled right out before even blinking.

She felt rather unsteady when they reached their destination, and she was holding onto Fred's hand for support. Fred quickly put a hand behind the small of her back and steadied her. _Thank Merlin for his quick reflexes. _Hermione thought, biting her lip rather nervously.

"Thanks." Hermione huffed, smoothing her skirt. They appeared to be at the end of a dark alley, the darkness of the night concealing them from being noticed. She squinted to see bright headlights of Muggle cars and streetlights flickering on and off straight ahead.

"Muggle London?" Hermione questioned, cutting off her gaze of the bright street lights to look at Fred. His piercing blue eyes seemed to light up the whole alley like the mysterious Cheshire cat's cheeky grin in the dark, resulting into heat creeping up Hermione's cheeks. Luckily, her blush was ensconced by the lack of light, rescuing Hermione from embarrassment.

"Yep," Fred began, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts and back into reality. "I thought it'd be quite nice to walk a couple of blocks rather than Apparate, seeing you're not quite taken with it." Hermione smiled sheepishly and laughed at this remark. "C'mon."

Fred offered his hand and bowed like a prince, making Hermione giggle like a school girl. Hermione took his large, worn out hand from grasping a Beaters' bat all those years from Quidditch, into her small, delicate hand which was usually occupied by a book of the sort without hesitance, making both a little uneasy by the contact. Her stomach was hoarding millions of butterflies when they interlocked fingers. He led the way to near the busy streets of Muggle London. Muggle London was flooded with people, people streaming and bustling to and fro, knocking shoulder with shoulder, ignoring everything and everyone in their path. Most Muggles were probably commuting home from work, so Hermione seemed to fit right in with her business-type outfit. On the other hand, Fred looked rather out of place in casual clothing, but he seemed to be unperturbed by the weird glances from the Muggles, humming slightly peacefully, and Hermione finding that it was rather cute. She smiled to herself, and compressed her side against Fred's, not letting go of his hand, but gripping it tighter. Fred, at first, seemed startled by the close proximity and signs of intimacy. After a few seconds, Fred proceeded to soften his features and return the grip. Oddly enough, lately she has been feeling rather safe when she was by or with Fred.

A few moments later, they turned a corner, away from all the bustling commuters and actually had air to breathe for a few moments. Hermione let out a relieved sigh, staring at her shoes and snorted, "Muggles." Fred chuckled at her, considering she lived like a Muggle for most for her life. As soon as she finished her rant to herself, she looked up from her black flats to the scenery of where apparently Fred had decided their first date would reside.

Hermione gasped, letting go of Fred's grasp and taking a few steps further as she looked around to see that apparently he led her to a local park, a park which she used to peruse with her parents all the time when she was young. She put a hand over her mouth, and let out a shriek of disbelief. Hermione never thought she would ever find herself in this park once again once she got her Hogwarts acceptance letter at the age of 11.

The park was dimly lit by a few lights buried into the grass, although the moon was shining particularly bright on this fine evening, so the park was lit brightly by the natural light. The park was full of green, healthy shards of grass, which appeared to be recently mowed, because the new grass smell lingered in their presence. Luckily, the couple was alone, as it was nearing the dark hours of the night. As Hermione scanned the beautiful park in which she vividly remembers powerful memories, she noted the large amount of antediluvian trees of all kinds, scattered amongst the place with branches drooping in many directions and lengths, which she always found, weirdly enough, pleasant and welcoming. Most of them were beaten up, with cracks everywhere, names carved into them without delicacy, but there was this one tree that caught her eye that seemed undisturbed with no recognizable tampering done to it. It was her favourite oak tree when she was younger, of which she called Archaic, another word for old. She happened to be reading a thesaurus that day.

For hours, she recollected that on hot, summer days, her younger self would read her books in silence under the heavy shade of her favourite oak tree, which was the bulkiest and oldest of them all, and always found herself incredibly comfortable around the ancient plant. She took another glance at the elder tree she always favoured, and smiled to see that it progressed to look even older, as if it was about to crack right down the middle, but still maintained looking very salubrious. In the distance, she saw a tiny playground complete with a slide, a few sets of rickety swings, and a pair of see-saws. She distinctly remembered her dad pushing her on the swing, herself screaming and laughing manically at the same time yelling, "HIGHER!" She felt unshed tears well up in her eyes, remembering her parents have not the faintest idea who she is anymore, and are in incognito somewhere in Australia. She couldn't hold them back anymore and let the tears free fall down her cheeks, sucking in her lips.

"Do you not like it?" Fred asked quietly, apparently at a loss for words at whether Hermione despised it or loved it. Hermione almost forgot why she was here, and felt extremely guilty for just forgetting that Fred was there, when it was him who brought back her powerful childhood memories. She hastily whipped her head around to face Fred, his ocean blue eyes full with concernedness and pure worry. She grinned widely before she thrust herself onto him, arms clutching his neck, hugging him tightly.

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><p><em>Fred's POV<em>

At first, Fred thought that Hermione was about to hit him and winced, and was startled by the intimate hug, but quickly regained his composure and returned the hug lightly.

"I – absolutely – love – it." Hermione said in between breaths and pulled away from him, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just, this was the park I used to go to all the time with my parents, it – it just had so many memories, I'm sorry." Hermione explained, smiling weakly at him.

Fred's eyes bulged out, thinking he hit a soft spot about her parents by bringing her here, and replied, alarmed, "OH! I'm sorry if this reminded you of your parents, it's probably all too-"

"Oh, no, Fred, that's not it at all," Hermione cut off quickly, unfazed. "They're probably better off without knowing, anyways." Hermione sniffled. "I'm just happy to be back here." She flashed him a genuine smile. "Really."

"Well then, I'm glad I picked this spot," Fred said happily, relief flushing all over him that he didn't make a dumb move. "Anyways, I was thinking we would have a moonlit picnic by one of the trees, what do you say?" Hermione responded by suppressing a giggle at his corniness (which Fred was intending for) and nodded.

"Pick a tree then, my fair maiden!" Fred exclaimed, waving his hand around to indicate any tree in the whole park. Hermione, without hesitation or consideration, pointed at an aged oak tree at which had branches long and short, pointing in all directions. Its leaves were a dull evergreen, but nonetheless looked rather special to Hermione. Her eyes glowed at the enormous tree.

"It's the tree I used to read under almost every day each summer when I was younger," Hermione explained. "I named it Archaic, I know, it – it's stupid." Hermione stammered, her eyes still locked onto the tree, avoiding eye contact, and allowed a weak smile to escape her lips.

"It's not," Fred reassured, returning a soft smile. "Anyways, good choice!" Fred interjected, bowing before her and offering his hand. "Shall we, milady?" He said in a rather royal tone.

Hermione giggled once again and took his hand, which oddly enough shot weird sparks down his spine at the touch but ignored it, mimicking his tone and replied, "Of course, my good sir." Fred chuckled quietly at her sudden outburst of outgoingness, and proceeded to prance over to the oak tree like a young child, tugging on her hand, and Hermione followed suit, both laughing their heads off the whole five-second trip.

As soon as they reached the tree, Fred looked to and fro to make sure no one was looking, and whipped out his wand, conjuring up a picnic blanket, earning a glare from Hermione for using magic where Muggles are nearby. He smiled sheepishly at her and shrugged. He grabbed his shrunken picnic basket full of food (all made by Mum, of course) out of his jean pocket and muttered, "_Engorgio!"_ and it immediately returned to full-size. With a mutter and a whip of his wand, all of the food was piled out of the basket and neatly laid out onto the checkered blanket. Apparently, Mum cooked up a feast, because she basically made Christmas supper for them, supplying them with so much food, from her world-famous mashed potatoes to overflowing glasses of butterbeer. Hermione's eyes widened by the overwhelming amount of food, and glanced over at Fred with an expression on her face as if his Mum killed someone. Her mouth formed an adorable shape of an O, making Fred uncontrollably sport a wide grin, but concealing it with a joke before she noticed him ogling her.

"I guess Mum wanted to make sure we were stuffed to the crust." Fred joked, covering up his cowardly smile with a sly grin. Hermione threw her head back and laughed.

Fred, being the dashing gentleman he was, offered a hand to help Hermione down, and she smiled and took it, sitting down on the blanket, legs tucked under her, leaning her weight on her arms. Fred took a seat opposite of her, facing her. He sat criss-cross, and took a look at Hermione and said, "Dig in."

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><p>Hunger took over Fred, who hasn't eaten anything less than a few bites of a ham sandwich in anxiety, and he quickly stuffed his face with food, without bothering to converse with Hermione. <em>So this is how Ron feels every meal, <em>Fred thought. He looked up to see if Hermione was staring at him with utter horror, but on the contrary, she was just quietly and casually taking small bites of food, seeming undisturbed by his sudden "Ron" appetite. _She probably thinks it's a Weasley thing,_ Fred chuckled to himself.

"The famous Weasley appetite never fails to falter." Hermione commented out of the blue, noticing him staring at her, and uncharacteristically smirking at him. Fred whipped his head to his food, as if thoroughly interested with it, with his ears heating up into the famous Weasley fiery red, nodding nonchalantly.

To avoid further comments on the subject, he quickly engaged her into small talk conversations, like how she was doing and just general little aspects. Soon enough, their small talk evolved into ending up reminiscing on memories back when they were at Hogwarts. They both seemed to get out of the awkward zone at that and talked comfortably with each other, occasionally laughing at one another's dismay and blunders at their old school.

"There was this time when we tricked that git Malfoy's prat of a friend, Crabbe, into eating one of our Puking Pastilles, but didn't give him the other piece of the candy to remedy the vomiting. Being the thick skull he is, he greedily snatched the candy without consent and stuffed it in his mouth, and automatically began vomiting all over Malfoy himself." Fred told, with a sly grin on his face, followed by a smirk.

Hermione, who was casually taking sips of her butterbeer throughout the story, involuntarily spit it out to her side so it wouldn't drip all over Fred, and laughed loudly, covering her mouth, throwing her head back. Fred was relieved that Hermione had somewhat mellowed throughout the years, and didn't chew him out for doing that to a fellow student. But then again, it _was_ Crabbe. Fred joined in laughing with her.

After the laughing died out, they both locked eyes with each other and smiled. Even after one date, Fred felt comfortable around Hermione. His stare involuntarily intensified, taking in how beautiful her features were. Her chocolate brown eyes, her soft, delicate skin, her bushy brown hair, her soft, pink, rather _kissable_ lips…

Fred mentally slapped himself. He shouldn't be thinking those things. Sure, he fancied her a bit, okay, maybe a lot, _and_ they were betrothed to each other, but he didn't think Hermione considered a _romantic _relationship with him. _I mean, sure she kissed me yesterday night, _Fred thought to himself. _But it was more like a _thank-you _kiss rather than an _I-fancy-you_ kiss. Right?_

Fred realized this was probably an awkward moment for Hermione, who was nervously biting her lip, and then quickly asked, "Are you full?" Hermione blinked rapidly, and slowly nodded her head. Fred broke their gaze and looked around, making sure no one was around, and took out his wand, easily cleaning all of the leftovers and neatly piling them into the basket once again, and shrunk the basket, stuffing it in his pocket. Fred stood up and stepped off the blanket, Hermione following suit, and Fred flicked his wand and murmured, "_Evanesco!"_, causing the blanket to disappear into thin air.

Fred still had plans for the evening, though, and he nervously offered his hand once again. "The night's not over, yet." He informed with some shred of confidence left in his voice, and Hermione provided an unsure smile and took his hand.

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><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

Hermione was quite unsure about her feelings for Fred as of tonight. He acted as such a gentleman to her and she felt like she could confide anything in him, like she would with Ginny, but she thought he wouldn't go around bouncing around, dropping hints to people like his gossipy red-headed sister.

When they had the awkward stare, his eyes were intensifying. She could not help but intake his face structure, like his beautiful eyes, his short, (which he decided to cut his locks short against the Weasley shaggy hair trend) fiery red hair, his lips…

But Hermione did not think past those thoughts. She knew that Fred was only being kind to her, not like Fred actually likes her. Hermione quickly shook the thoughts from her head, and focused her mind on where Fred was taking her. They were still within the park grounds, but Fred led her to the very center of the park, where there was nothing but green, no trees in the way.

Fred released her hand, in which she reluctantly forced herself not to grab for it again (man, was she turning into a lovesick puppy), and watched him as he rummaged his hand through his pocket and took something out, revealing it to be yet another shrunken item, and he looked around once again, making sure the coast was clear, and whipped out his wand, murmuring the spell and revealed the item to be one of his and George's products, Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs. Hermione narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to protest that it will wake the Muggles, and Fred quickly explained, "Don't get worried, I charmed them so no Muggles will see or hear them." He gave her a quirky smile that sent shivers down her spine.

"Ready?" Fred asked, preparing himself to set them off. Hermione nodded hesitantly and stepped back a few.

Fred mumbled the Stunning spell and Vanishing charm to set them off, and they set off into the dull, dark night and sported bright streaks of beautifully coloured fireworks, going about in all directions, shapes, and sizes. There were vibrant colours everywhere, igniting the sky in a flurry of fireworks loudly popping, sending off sparks of various shapes. Hermione's eyes gleamed at the wondrous sight, her shining eyes reflecting the colours. Fred tapped her shoulder and she broke her eyes from the fireworks, to find Fred on one knee, holding out a tiny box that revealed a large, diamond ring that was shaped like an otter. Hermione's eyes widened as Fred yelled over the loud fireworks, "Even though you sort of have to, will you marry me, Hermione Granger?"

Hermione's eyes welled with tears as she nodded, and Fred gently slipped the ring on her ring finger. This is not how Hermione envisioned the date; she thought it would be subtle and normal. She's _definitely_ not complaining, though. After looking at Fred again with eyes full of joy, she jumped onto him and collided her lips with his.

It was like heaven for her, the kiss was unmistakably the best kiss she ever experienced; she and Ron's bland kiss had nothing on this one. Fred was, at first, startled, but quickly responded to the kiss, holding her waist. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck. It started out as a gentle, sweet kiss, but then evolved into a deep, passionate kiss. Hermione gave him full opportunity to her mouth, and he took it and slid his tongue down her throat. Her hands started to get entangled in his hair, and Fred pulled her close to his chest. This couldn't have been more perfect for her. Not exactly how she imagined their real, first kiss would be like, but it was a million times better than how she imagined it.

There she stood, Hermione Granger, on the tip of her toes, kissing Fred Weasley, the most unlikely person. Imagine that: Hogwarts' biggest bookworm snogging one of Hogwarts' biggest pranksters.

_It's undeniable, _Hermione thought to herself. _I fancy Fred Weasley._

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><p><strong>AN: **To me, I think this is a rather short chapter. I know what you're thinking, then **what **is a LONG chapter to you? LOL, true, true. And I was thinking of ending the chapter with I love Fred Weasley, but I felt that was going _waaaaay _too fast, you know? And, it would interfere with the events to come. So yeah, R&R, loves, and don't hesitate for constructive criticism, I can handle it… just don't go too hard, okay? The next chapter coming your way soon, lovies!


	6. Pondering Thoughts

**A/N: **Please, forgive me if I let any of the characters become a bit OOC. But that is what fanfics are for, right? AU? :-)

Plus, this chapter really stinks. I don't like it all that much, but I wanted to put _something _out! I promise, the next one will be a lot better. A lot..

**P.S, notice, if some of you are thinking WTF, I didn't do a Story Alert for some story called "Illogical", its previous title was "The Unlikely Marriage", I thought it was really corny and decided to change it to something that sounded a **_**little **_**cooler. :-P**

**Disclaimer: **Yeahhh I don't own Harry Potter. To break it to you.

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><p><strong>Illogical<strong>

**Chapter 6: Pondering Thoughts**

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><p>When Hermione woke up at the crack of dawn – well, she didn't really sleep, more like just closing her eyes – she still felt as if she was on cloud nine. It was unreal that things were moving so fast, yet so perfectly. She couldn't help but give a wide, goofy smile when she thought of last night and being <em>Mrs. Fred Weasley. <em>Hermione bit her lip to prevent herself from squealing like a schoolgirl without waking Ginny, or else Ginny would interrogate her as soon as possible, seeing as she couldn't when Hermione got back to the Burrow because it was really late. Hermione felt quite out of character feeling like a lovesick puppy for Fred Weasley. _Since when did I become Lavender Brown?_ Hermione shuddered.

Then, somehow, her thoughts wandered back to the contents of the letter from the Ministry of Magic about the Marriage Law. She remembered that in the letter, it said she had to _conceive_ a child within a year of marriage, which in short, meant she and Fred had to have a kid, which meant they had to… Hermione was really uncomfortable on this subject, how awkward it would be, considering she was a virgin… _Fred probably had loads of experience_… Hermione mentally punched herself for letting her thoughts think of that. That was disturbing.

Hermione quietly slipped out of her bed, careful not to make a sound as she shuffled downstairs in need of quiet, thinking, alone time.

Hermione plopped onto the big armchair by the fire and stared blankly at the dancing crackling fire, attempting in vain to clear her thoughts. It really was stupid: her old, schoolgirl crush from way back when has crept its way back, and whenever she even _thought _of Fred, she couldn't prevent the butterflies that shaped in her stomach.

She sat there in peace for only a few minutes, until she heard footsteps on the stairs nearing towards her, getting louder with every second. She whipped her head around in alarm to see Harry, looking groggy and still half-asleep, putting all his weight on the stair railing.

"Harry?" Hermione asked warily. "What are you doing up this early?" From what she knew after all these years, her best friend was definitely not a morning person.

"Just for some water." Harry replied simply, making his way towards the kitchen and pouring himself a glass of water. Harry wolfed it all in one gulp, taking a moment or two to let his stomach digest it, and then seemed to remember Hermione was there, and turned back to her suspiciously. "What about you?"

"Thinking about Fr – nothing." Hermione said, correcting herself quickly, her cheeks feeling a heated rush. The raven-haired boy looked over his glasses, narrowing his piercing green eyes at her and gave her a knowing look.

"Did you just say Fred?" Harry accused, looking quite amused as Hermione's cheeks grew a nice burgundy.

"No!" Hermione interjected a little bit too quickly for Harry's liking. Harry grinned smugly in realization at her and sat down on the arm of the chair Hermione sat in. Hermione shifted in the chair uncomfortably, praying Harry doesn't do something stupid like yell out that she fancies Fred. _No, _Hermione thought. _Harry wasn't that cruel._

"You like Fred!" Harry declared loudly. _I speak too soon around here, don't I? _Hermione clamped his mouth shut with her hand and whispered furiously, "Quiet! Do you want the entire Burrow to hear you?"

Harry kept yelling, "Hermione likes Fred!" but muffled this time by Hermione's hand, so it sounded more like, "Mmmione wikes 'red!

"Harry James Potter, yell any more and I'll tell everyone about what you did with Ginny last Christmas." Hermione warned. This made Harry shut up with ease, making it now his turn to blush.

"Thought so." Hermione smiled at her victory and released her hand from his mouth, Harry breathing unevenly. "Now," Hermione started, looking at him with false seriousness. "What were you saying?"

"I… said… nothing." Harry said, choosing his words very carefully, reassuring that Hermione would not regret her choice. She smiled widely and patted Harry on the shoulder. "Then I think we're done here." At that, Hermione swiftly trudged back up the stairs, leaving a defeated Harry behind.

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><p><em>Fred's POV <em>

Fred woke up with a stupid grin on his face. He was relieved that last night's date went well, a little better than he contemplated. He felt so funny knowing that Hermione would be his wife. That Hermione, whom he fancied from afar for quite a while now, somewhat liked him back, judging from last night's activities. Although after the unorthodox proposal, and after a long snogging session, they just walked around the empty streets of the not-so-busy Muggle London, in comfortable silence, their fingers entwined. What felt like forever, soon it got really late, and they said their goodbyes, with a small kiss, two red faces, and a Disapparation pop.

It was quite ironic, for the overly confident Fred Weasley who could flirt and get a girl in his bed with ease to fall head over heels for the least expected witch who, back in Hogwarts days, opposed basically anything he thought to be right.

He hopped out of bed with a spring in his step and strode to the kitchen, finding George already eating cereal.

"Hello, George, brother dearest, my other half, how are you doing?" Fred greeted, patting him on the shoulder as he made his way to get himself a bowl.

"What's got you all Mr. Happy?" George inquired, one eyebrow raised, his question following him stuffing a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"Nothing." Fred replied plainly, pouring his cereal into his bowl. George snorted and put down his spoon.

"Nothing? Really? You're my twin, Fred; you think I can't see that it's nothing? You hurt me, Freddie." George joked, clutching his heart.

Fred rolled his eyes, but this did not falter his contagious good mood and practically bounced to his seat across from George.

"Damn, Fred, what is it? You looked like a little girl bouncing over here!" George exclaimed amusedly, pointing his spoon at Fred accusingly.

"Just happy, buddy." Fred said, tucking into his cereal. George scoffed, mimicking Fred, "_Just happy, buddy._ What – ? Oh yeah, you had your date with Hermione!"

"Congrats, Georgie boy, you figured it out." Fred joked, his face brightening up considerably at the sound of Hermione's name, then stuffing his face with cereal shortly afterwards.

"Ah, Freddie, you've got it bad, don't you?" George teased.

Fred's ears tinted a shade of pale pink and shrugged, avoiding George's gaze. This probably made George feel like Christmas had come early, giddy with excitement about giving him something to tease Fred about.

They sat in silence, until George said rather bluntly, knowing it would get to his brother, "Did you shag? And was it good?"

Fred's eyes bulged and spit out the cereal lingering in his mouth. Unfortunately, George was right across from him, which left him to pick off bits of soggy, regurgitated cereal off his pajamas.

"Merlin, Fred, what the hell?" George whined like a two-year old, glaring at his twin, but with one swish of his wand it all disappeared. He straightened his pajamas and narrowed his eyes to slits at his brother. "You suck."

"You're the one who thought that I was _shagging _Hermione! C'mon, it's _Hermione _we're talking about." An agitated Fred shot back, although red in the face. George just shrugged it off and smirked.

"Oh of course I know it's our dear friend 'Mione, but still, it didn't hurt to ask." George said. "But your reaction was a plus." George added, raising his eyebrows with a grin before standing up to flounce off to his room, leaving Fred dumbfounded, and deep in his thoughts about realization that they _did _have to… "conceive a child within a year of marriage", or so the letter said. Fred pushed away the thought for later, feeling funny even in his own mind thinking about it, and stood up and shuffled back to his room to get ready for work, leaving his practically uneaten bowl of cereal stray.

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><p><em>Hermione's POV<em>

Hermione entered the twins' shop in mid-afternoon, in awe at how the shop was still going strong. There were customers flooding the place, there was no space for Hermione to even squirm an inch. Hermione managed to push her way through to one of the aisles that seemed less crowded, breathing heavily from lack of air.

Hermione figured she would just stop by and say hi, although a little nervous about Fred with last nights' events. It seemed well though, judging from the fact that Fred _did _give her a real proposal and _kiss _her back. She felt a small smile creep onto her mouth as she replayed last night's events again in her mind. Everything was perfect, it was bliss. What was she worrying about?

She figured that the twins were busy with customers, so she wandered around the shop for a while, strolling up and down the aisles, still amazed at how extraordinary their magic was.

All of a sudden, strong arms engulfed her into a hug from behind her, kissing the top of her head. "Hello, love."

Hermione spun around and hugged Fred tightly in his welcoming arms. "Fred!" She gave him a long, soft kiss and beamed at him, with him smiling widely back at her.

"Ah, what brings you here?" said a voice from behind them, unmistakably George.

"Stopped by to say hello." Hermione said, still wrapped in Fred's arms.

"And Georgie doesn't get a hug?" George teased, pouting. Hermione chuckled and left Fred's warm embrace to hug George.

"So… by the looks of it, you and Freddie here are officially together now, right? Even though you're forced to be married, you're like, together together?" George said after he and Hermione pulled away. Fred and Hermione both blushed, avoiding each others' gaze.

George smiled at this, quirking an eyebrow up. "You two need to learn how to stop your damn blushing." This only made them both redder in the face. George rolled his eyes at them, wagging a disapproving finger at them, leaving them to it.

After an awkward silence of them just standing there, both sneaking glances at each other, Fred forced her to lock eyes with him – Hermione's knees felt yet again weak, getting lost in his eyes… – and said quietly, "Sorry about George... you okay?"

Hermione ignored the last few minutes of uncomfortable silence and smiled at him, kissing him on the lips. "Better."

At this, Fred smiled wider and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and capturing his lips with hers. They stood like that for a while, their kiss getting deeper and more passionate, and the last few minutes long forgotten.

* * *

><p>(AN: Sorry for a sort of boring and uneventful chapter, but I'm running out of ideas, mates! I know, the wait for such a boring chapter. But I promise, things will kick up a notch next chapter, promise! 3)


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